North Carolina Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in North Carolina, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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If a nonprofit charter school board hires a for-profit management company to run the day-to-day school, can it hand over hiring and firing of teachers to that company, or does the board itself have to keep final say?
The board has to keep final say over teachers. Under G.S. 115C-238.29F(e), the charter school's board must employ and contract with teachers. The board can delegate the initial recommendation and disc…
Can the North Carolina State Personnel Commission adopt a rule giving veterans an automatic 10-point preference on numerically scored state employment examinations?
Yes. N.C.G.S. § 126-82 explicitly directs the State Personnel Commission to provide veterans preferences in evaluation and experience credit, and § 126-4 gives the Commission broad rulemaking authorit…
If a registered Professional Engineer is also a state employee or state official doing engineering work as part of their job, does the NC engineering licensing board still have disciplinary jurisdiction over them?
Yes. The Engineering Board has jurisdiction over every registered Professional Engineer in the state and can enforce rules of professional conduct against them. It does not matter whether the engineer…
Can North Carolina agree with the federal Minerals Management Service to fix the state's seaward boundary at a series of permanent coordinates, or must the boundary remain ambulatory and shift with changes to the shoreline?
The boundary must remain ambulatory. NC's seaward boundary has been three geographical miles from the extreme low water mark of the Atlantic Ocean since 1776 (recognized at one marine league). N.C. Co…
If a child was equitably adopted (treated as a child but never legally adopted) and inherits from the foster parent, does that child get North Carolina's preferential inheritance tax rate as a 'Class A beneficiary'?
No. The NC Supreme Court's 1997 decision in Lankford v. Wright recognized equitable adoption as an equitable remedy in intestate succession to enforce a foster parent's contractual promise to adopt. B…
Can North Carolina community colleges enter into lease-purchase and installment purchase contracts to acquire equipment, or do they need explicit legislation like K-12 schools and local governments already have?
Yes, community colleges can enter lease-purchase and installment purchase contracts, but only when the contracts are made by or with the approval of the Purchase and Contract Division of the NC Depart…
Can North Carolinians legally canoe or kayak down a stream that runs across private property, or do they need permission from the landowners along the banks?
Yes, they can paddle without the consent of riparian owners. The AG applied the NC Supreme Court's holding in Gwathmey v. State, 342 N.C. 287 (1995): under the pleasure-craft test, a stream that is in…
If a homeowner has been partially paid by the general contractor who botched the job, can the homeowner still recover any of the remaining loss from North Carolina's Homeowners Recovery Fund?
No. The Homeowners Recovery Fund definition of 'reimbursable loss' in N.C.G.S. § 87-15.5(6) requires that the loss 'is not paid, in whole or in part, by or on behalf of the general contractor whose co…
When a member of the Edgecombe County Board of Education (merged school system) resigns mid-term, does the board's appointee serve the remainder of the four-year term, or must voters elect a replacement at the next general election to serve out the remainder?
The appointee serves the remainder of the unexpired term, with no intervening election. The AG concluded that Chapter 809 of the 1991 Session Laws, the local act establishing the merged Edgecombe boar…
Do North Carolina's political-activity restrictions on city and county 'employees' also cover elected mayors, commissioners, and sheriffs?
Yes. The AG concluded that the term 'employee' in G.S. § 153A-99 (counties) and G.S. § 160A-169 (cities) is broad enough to include elected officials. The same political-activity prohibitions and the …
If a NC EMS responder withholds CPR based on a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order, are they protected from being sued?
Yes, but on different legal grounds depending on which version of the DNR order was used. The NC Medical Society's Bioethics Committee developed a Model DNR Order with both a statutory form (compliant…
If a North Carolina Property Tax Commissioner's brother sits on a county board of commissioners, can the PTC member hear property-tax appeals from that county where his brother voted on the underlying tax decision?
No. The AG concluded that this is a direct family conflict of interest and the PTC member must recuse himself from any appeal involving a decision in which his brother participated. The quasi-judicial…
Under the 1997 NC Excellent Schools Act, when a career teacher chooses to skip the case-manager hearing and have his dismissal appeal heard directly by the school board on documents, what evidence may actually be considered?
The board's record includes the superintendent's recommendation and grounds, documentary evidence (defined broadly to cover pre-existing documents and documents prepared specifically for the hearing s…
Can a NC public hospital keep a non-medical-malpractice settlement agreement confidential, even when the agreement itself says it must stay confidential?
Almost no. G.S. § 132-1.3 makes settlement documents involving state agencies (including public hospital authorities) public records, with a narrow carve-out for medical malpractice settlements. The c…
Can the Director of the North Carolina Division of Aging keep serving on the Parks and Recreation Authority after starting that director job, or do the dual-role rules force her to choose between the two?
Both roles are allowed. G.S. § 128-1.1 permits two concurrent appointive positions, and the duties of the Division of Aging (aging-related programs and Home and Community Care Block Grant administrati…
After North Carolina's 1997 reform of the State Personnel Act, what happened to RIF priorities, where did personnel directors fit in the exempt-position scheme, and could job applicants sue over political-affiliation discrimination?
The AG advised that the new 'most qualified person' definition incorporated existing priority rules (so a minimally qualified reduction-in-force candidate still beat a stronger outside applicant), tha…
After a tie vote in a small-town mayoral race was decided by a single provisional ballot, must the county board of elections release the provisional voter's identifying application to the media on request, or does the constitutional right to a secret ballot protect that voter's identity?
The provisional voter's identity is protected. Normally, applications to vote provisionally are public records because they are separate from the ballots and there are enough provisional voters that n…
After the 1993 amendments to North Carolina's slot-machine statute, are video poker machines still illegal under G.S. § 14-306, or are they exempt as amusement devices?
A video poker machine was legal under the post-1993 version of G.S. § 14-306 if it (1) was used for amusement, (2) involved the use of skill or dexterity (not necessarily dominated by skill), (3) limi…
Does the Butner Planning Council have to submit three new candidate names for Town Manager to the Secretary of Health and Human Services while the position is already filled?
No. Under N.C.G.S. § 122C-403(9), the Planning Council must submit three names to the Secretary only when there is a vacancy in the Town Manager position. While the current Town Manager is in office, …
When a North Carolina school administrative unit gets fined for environmental violations, who gets the money? Does the school get to keep the fine it paid?
No, under any version of the law. Before September 1, 1997, the proceeds went to the General Fund. From September 1, 1997 forward, the new G.S. 115C-457.1 through -457.3 framework routed all such pena…
Does North Carolina's mandatory comprehensive school health education program apply to high school students, and what control do parents and local boards have over its sex-education component?
The mandatory comprehensive school health education program under G.S. § 115C-81(e1) covers only kindergarten through ninth grade. Local boards may add comprehensive sex education at K-9 (after a publ…
Can a North Carolina school district require teachers to report suspected child abuse to a single school-system contact person instead of directly to the county Department of Social Services?
No. Under G.S. 115C-400, the person who has cause to suspect child abuse must report directly to the county DSS Director. A school district may have a contact person to assist with reporting and serve…
Can a North Carolina magistrate be removed from office mid-term if they move out of the county for which they were appointed?
No. Under N.C.G.S. § 7A-171.2(a), county residency is a qualification only 'for nomination or renomination,' not for continuing in office. Once a magistrate is appointed to a two-year term by the seni…
When the 1997 Swine Farm Siting Act takes effect with new setback distances (1,500 feet from residences, 2,500 feet from schools/hospitals/churches, etc.), do farmers whose water quality permits were already approved at lesser setbacks still have to comply with the new setbacks when they start construction?
Yes. The effective date language is clear and unambiguous: the new setbacks apply to any new construction or expansion commencing on or after the date of the act. Holding a DWQ-issued water quality pe…
If NC enacts a swine farm moratorium that takes effect when the Governor signs it, can permits issued earlier the same morning still be valid?
Yes. The General Assembly ratified the Clean Water Responsibility and Environmentally Sound Policy Act on August 26, 1997. The Act imposed a two-year moratorium on construction or expansion of swine f…
Does my city get to keep the money from parking tickets, or does the cash have to go to the county public schools?
It depends on whether the city has decriminalized its parking ordinance. If the council has invoked G.S. 160A-175(b) to remove criminal penalties (as Raleigh did in Section 11-2025 of its code), the p…
Can the North Carolina General Assembly create a local-option tax by passing a bill on fewer than three separate days, or does Article II, Section 23 require strict three-day passage even for narrow city/county authorizations?
No, the General Assembly cannot. The AG concluded that to the extent S.L. 1997-452 (H.B. 786) authorized Cabarrus County or the City of Concord to levy taxes through a binding local referendum, it was…
When a North Carolina builder builds a spec house on land he owns and sells the house and land together, does the project 'value' for general-contractor licensing purposes include the land?
No. The AG concluded that the 'value' used to determine which level of general-contractor license is required under G.S. § 87-10(a) is the cost of the building only, not the cost of the land. The lice…
Can a North Carolina town legally run a 'Business Development Investment' tax-rebate program that gives incentive grants to private companies to attract economic development?
Tentatively yes, but Lexington's BDI Program needs published guidelines and criteria before the AG can sign off. Maready v. City of Winston-Salem (1996) confirms that § 158-7.1 incentive grants are co…
If a NC home school doesn't actually enroll any children of compulsory school age, does the state Division of Non-Public Education still have to recognize and register it?
No. NC's compulsory school attendance law (G.S. § 115C-378) requires children ages 7-16 to attend a school. The state's home-school, private-church-school, and qualified-nonpublic-school regulatory fr…
Did changes to the salary schedule for North Carolina school psychologists and speech pathologists in the 1990 and 1996 appropriations acts strip these employees of eligibility for career status (tenure)?
No. The AG concluded that the 1990 and 1996 appropriations-act salary adjustments only raised the starting salary points for school psychologists and speech pathologists on the existing master's-degre…
If a North Carolina felon's firearm rights were restored under the old rule (five years after release), can the State or the federal government still prosecute him for possessing a firearm after the 1995 NC amendment tightened the rules?
Yes. The 1995 NC Felony Firearms Act amendment applies to any felony conviction in NC occurring before, on, or after December 1, 1995. The AG concluded that even ex-felons whose firearm rights had bee…
When a North Carolina county wants to reorganize its county-owned hospital as a hospital authority, can the county lease the hospital property to the new authority with strings attached, like requiring the county's written consent before major decisions?
Yes. The AG concluded that G.S. § 131E-31 expressly authorizes a county to lease hospital property to a hospital authority on whatever terms the county chooses, including prior-written-approval condit…
Are applications for a North Carolina Private Protective Services license open to the public, or can the licensing board keep them confidential?
Applications and other information the Board receives during licensure are public records under G.S. § 132-1 and § 132-6, and are open to public inspection. Narrow exceptions cover Social Security num…
Can North Carolina's anti-gambling property-seizure law be used to ban billboards advertising the legal Indian casino games at the Eastern Band of Cherokee reservation?
No. The gaming offered at the Cherokee reservation under the Tribal-State Compact is legal in North Carolina, and the First Amendment protects commercial speech about lawful activity. N.C.G.S. § 14-29…
When my county pays for materials to build a new school, can the county get back the sales tax it paid on those materials?
Only in narrow circumstances. Local boards of education are not on the list of entities eligible for the G.S. § 105-164.14(c) sales-tax refund. A county can get a refund only when the county itself ha…
Is North Carolina's tax break that lets in-state corporations deduct dividends from majority-owned subsidiaries (but denies the same deduction to out-of-state corporations) constitutional under the U.S. Commerce Clause?
No. The AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 105-130.7(4), which allowed only corporations commercially domiciled in NC to deduct subsidiary dividends, facially discriminates against interstate commerce in vi…
Can the NC State Education Assistance Authority pay for counselor training and financial aid outreach programs out of the interest income on the NC Student Loan Fund?
Yes. Article 23 of Chapter 116 grants the Authority broad power to operate financial assistance programs and 'to do all other acts and things necessary or convenient' to that mission. Training high sc…
Can North Carolina bar nonresidents from holding shellfish licenses, and how much higher can it set commercial-fishing license fees for out-of-state fishermen, without violating the U.S. Constitution?
Yes in theory, but with serious doubt about the shellfish bar and the $1,800 fee gap in HB 1097. The AG warned that flat resident-only shellfish licenses (NCGS 113-154(c), 113-202) probably fail Privi…
If a former North Carolina state judge has already vested in his judicial pension before the General Assembly passed a law cutting benefits for state retirees who later become federal judges, can the State still cut his pension once he is appointed to the federal bench?
No. The AG concluded that NCGS 135-72 cannot constitutionally be applied to reduce the judicial retirement benefits of any state-system member or retiree who had already satisfied the minimum-age and …
Can a State Board of Education member keep his seat if his spouse works for a local public school system, and what happens if a board member's spouse takes a public school job after the member is confirmed?
The two questions get different answers. A public school employee appointed to the single dedicated public-school-employee seat under the 1989 amendment to NCGS 115C-10 keeps his seat even if his spou…
If a judgment-creditor uses a Supplemental Proceeding to make a bank disclose a debtor's account information, does the Clerk of Superior Court have to pay the bank's record-production charge, or does the judgment-creditor?
The judgment-creditor pays. The AG concluded that although the Clerk's office is a 'governmental authority' under the NC Financial Privacy Act, the Clerk in a Supplemental Proceeding under NCGS 1-360 …
Why are North Carolina banks allowed to deduct the full amount of their federal bond interest income for state tax purposes, when other corporations have to subtract out the interest expenses associated with that income, and is that bank-specific treatment constitutional?
It is a long-standing administrative policy under NCGS 105-130.5 that the General Assembly has implicitly ratified by leaving in place despite multiple proposed reversals. The AG concluded that, altho…
Does Senate Bill 194 clarifying that NC can charge continuing air quality penalties from the date a violation began (not from the date the notice of violation arrived) need to pass, or is the current statute already clear?
It needs to pass. Although the state and AG have consistently read the air statute the same way as the water and groundwater statutes (penalty runs from the date of violation), some violators are argu…
Can a member of a local school board moonlight as a paid high school sports referee or umpire at games played by schools under that board's control without violating the self-dealing criminal statute?
Yes, under the facts presented. The AG concluded NCGS 14-234 does not reach the situation because the school board has no role in the selection of officials. The NC High School Athletic Association as…
When North Carolina inmates are housed in private prisons rather than state-owned prisons, can community colleges still provide them with classes, waive tuition for them, and report their hours the same way?
Yes to all three. The AG concluded that NCGS 148-37(h) requires private prisons to be operated 'in accordance with applicable State laws,' which includes the State Board of Community Colleges' authori…
When the Duplin Soil and Water Conservation District lacked enough money to fully fund swine lagoon retrofit cost-share grants needed for state water-quality compliance, could the district promise farmers a grant from a future budget cycle instead, and could it do so just for Duplin or did it have to extend the same option statewide?
Yes, with structural limits. Nothing in the cost-share statute or the state constitution prevents committing future grants. But no current board can bind a future board, and no contract can obligate a…
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down North Carolina's intangibles tax on stock, can the General Assembly refund the tax to people who paid it but never filed a formal protest?
No. The AG concluded that the exclusive emoluments clause in Article I, Section 32 of the North Carolina Constitution bars the legislature from refunding intangibles tax payments to taxpayers who did …
After the 1996 federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act amendments, what categories of information can the North Carolina Division of Social Services and county DSS agencies release publicly when a child involved in a CPS investigation has died?
The same five categories the AG identified in 1991, until federal regulations under CAPTA 1996 are promulgated. NC DSS and county DSS can release the deceased child's name; the fact that a county DSS …
When a public board in North Carolina wants to talk to its own retained attorney about a contract dispute the attorney was personally involved in, can the board legally close the meeting to the public, and can board members talk among themselves during that closed session?
Yes to both. The Open Meetings Law allows a closed session to consult with the public body's attorney where genuine attorney-client privilege exists (real attorney-client relationship, communications …
When the North Carolina Division of Travel and Tourism gives requesting parties copies of its promotional photographs and slides, can the Division attach use restrictions, or is it required to release the images and let recipients use them however they want?
The images must be released and the Division cannot control downstream use. Photographs and slides made by the Division in the conduct of public business are public records under § 132-1(a). The Divis…
Can a person who is an officer and director of a corporation that holds a contract with a North Carolina public hospital be appointed to that hospital's Board of Trustees if the person owns less than 10% of the corporation's stock?
No, not while the person remains an officer and director. N.C.G.S. § 14-234(a) makes it a misdemeanor for an appointed director to be 'in any manner concerned or interested' in a contract with the ent…
Can North Carolina's state revolving loan fund make loans to privately owned drinking water utilities, or does the state constitution's public-purpose limit on tax money block it?
Statutorily no, constitutionally yes if the General Assembly amends the law. The AG concluded that NCGS 159G-9 currently restricts the state revolving loan fund to units of local government, so privat…
When someone asks the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for a list of employees and former employees receiving state disability income, including their names and the dollar amount of disability income they receive, is that a public record the DMV must release, or is it protected personnel information?
It must be released. North Carolina law makes salary a public record under § 126-23. The Supreme Court has read 'salary' broadly to include retirement benefits, and the AG read it to include disabilit…
If a NC sheriff in one county revokes a person's concealed handgun permit, can the same person move to another county and get a fresh permit from a different sheriff?
No. A bail bondsman had his concealed handgun permit revoked by the Forsyth County Sheriff for carrying a firearm into a confinement facility in violation of G.S. § 14-415.11. He moved to Stokes Count…
Can the NC State Ports Authority finance an industrial facility that will be owned by the Authority and leased to a private company, even if the facility is not located right next to the state ports?
Yes, with two conditions. The NC Constitution Art. V § 13 lets state agencies acquire, build, and finance industrial and manufacturing facilities that 'relate to, develop or further' waterborne commer…
Can North Carolina cap a CAPCO insurance-premium tax credit on a first-come-first-served basis, so that once the cap is reached no other insurance company gets the credit, even if they made qualifying venture-capital investments?
Probably yes, the AG said. A first-come allocation rule is unusual but would likely survive a constitutional challenge based on the uniformity clause of N.C. Const. Art. V § 2 or the federal Equal Pro…
If North Carolina enacts House Bill 295 to exempt intangible personal property (like goodwill) from ad valorem taxation, does the bill as drafted also accidentally exempt leasehold interests in real property that is itself exempt from tax, and does it constrain how appraisers may consider goodwill when valuing real property?
As written, the bill exempts all intangibles, which would sweep in taxable leasehold interests in tax-exempt real property. Section 1 needs an amendment to preserve taxation of those leaseholds. On th…
Can a county employee (an electrical inspector) lawfully serve at the same time as a member of the Board of County Commissioners that ultimately oversees the County Manager who supervises that employee?
Yes, with limits. The AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 14-234 does not bar the arrangement because the Board of Commissioners had not been involved in hiring the electrical inspector (the County Manager m…
If a fire district tax referendum ends in a tie vote, has the tax been approved or rejected, and when can a new election on the same tax question be held?
A tie vote means the tax was rejected. State law requires a majority of votes cast in favor before a county can levy the special fire tax. Because the tax was rejected, the two-year statutory bar in N…
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Attorney general opinions in North Carolina are written by the North Carolina Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.